If Favre leaves the Vikings now, after the team bet everything on his return by not drafting a quarterback or trading for Donovan McNabb, the Dolphins should try to take advantage of the situation and offer to bail out the Vikings.

1. Trading Chad Pennington is not only risky, he’d rather be a backup in Miami than a starter elsewhere: Ever since Brett Favre kinda-sorta-but-not-quite-yet retired on Tuesday afternoon, it’s been hard not to notice that the Dolphins have four quarterbacks on their roster, three of which you could envision taking game snaps this regular season.

Surely, the Dolphins won’t keep four quarterbacks on their roster this season. And surely, Dolphins GM Jeff Ireland realizes he can trade one of his quarterbacks for a future draft pick. It’s not a terrible idea – a local columnist fully endorses trading Pennington in today’s newspaper – but there are a few reasons why the Dolphins should hold off.

“First of all, we don’t know if he’s going to retire,” Pennington quipped on Wednesday.

The Dolphins can probably get a draft pick for Chad Pennington, but is it worth it? / APBut it’s also a risky move that would hurt Miami’s quarterback depth. The team has Super Bowl aspirations this year, and if Chad Henne goes down, are the Dolphins really going to hand the keys to the Porsche over to Tyler Thigpen, a fourth-year pro who never had a quarterback coach until he came to Miami last year and has a career passer rating of 73.8?

While Tony Sparano has said he hasn’t determined his backup quarterback, the bet here is the smart, veteran Pennington would get the call over the talented but young Thigpen. Certainly no offense to Thigpen, but he simply can’t match the experience and pedigree that Pennington, when healthy, brings to the position. And Thigpen, eight years younger than Pennington and with a healthier shoulder, may even have more trade value, anyway.

Then there’s this: Pennington is really happy in Miami. He doesn’t mind backing up Henne. He is a great mentor for the younger players on the team. He wanted a no-trade clause in his contract this offseason, but instead will get a $1.5 million bonus if he is traded.

I asked Pennington specifically about the Vikings on Wednesday, and why would he rather be a backup in Miami than a starter elsewhere?

“I really enjoy who I work for and who I work with, and I think that’s important as you become a veteran in this league,” Pennington said. “I have a role and a niche here, and I understand our staff and our staff understands me. The way we play offense, the way Tony wants us to play as a quarterback, that’s me. He appreciates those little things that quarterbacks do that aren’t in the stat sheet.”

“But at the same time, I understand the league and I understand the possibilities of what could happen. So like I said in the spring, I’m prepared to get cut and I’m prepared to start 16 games, and everything in between.”

Unless the Vikings – or another team desperate for a quarterback, like, say, the Bills — offer a second- or third-round draft pick for Pennington (which I don’t see happening, given Pennington’s injury history and advancing age), the Dolphins would be best served by keeping him around.

ummm trading a cerebral QB like Pennington to the Vikings when we play them on Week 2 could mean certain doom for that week. Not only would Penny have every in and out of our defense, but also knows our Offense like he wrote the book. SO lets see, trade Pennington (our best back up, future QB coach, mentor in waiting) to the vikings for a mid round draft pick and a loss in 2010..... I would say, give us a 2011 first round pick, you can have the week 2 win, and we'll forget about this season if that were to happen....... trade him after week 2, well then maybe you got something there, but now.... ABSOLUTELY NOT

I disagree with the idea that Penny would rather back up here than start in Minny. They're a serious superbowl contender. In the NFC it's them and the Saints, a giant gap, the cowboys, and everyone else is so far behind they can't be seen.

If Pennington is healthy I am pulling for him to be the starting QB. I know some will probably be against that idea but I think he gives us the best chance for success this year if he is healthy and ready to go.

Quote:

...So you have Pennington, 10 months removed from the third major surgery on his throwing shoulder, proudly mentioning he has dropped eight pounds to get his weight back down to 229 pounds, which is where it was when Bill Parcells' Jets took him 18th overall in 2000.

Broad jump. Vertical leap. He has rolled back the clock on all those goofy gauges, with the help of the Dolphins training staff as well as personal trainers in Knoxville, Tenn., and South Florida.

And his 40-yard-dash time? That's back down to his pre-draft level as well.

All right, so we're only talking 4.81 seconds, but still. That was way better than some kid from Michigan named Tom Brady, who ran a 5.28 in that same draft class.

...

As for his shoulder, that remains a work in progress, albeit one that's clearly ahead of schedule. Pennington's arm was never a cannon, even at its peak, but it's still startling to see him off line with some of his practice throws.

Then again, there have been other moments in the first week of camp when Pennington's arm strength was startlingly good.

"Something happened out here in practice last week … where he threw a ball and all of a sudden – boom!" Dolphins coach Tony Sparano says, channeling John Madden. "There was relief. Something just went off where – wow! I mean that thing came out of his hand and it was really done well."

Nobody stopped practice. There were no on-field ceremonies to commemorate the hurdle Pennington had just cleared.

Yet, if Sparano was that moved by what he saw, you'd better believe the other three quarterbacks in camp took note.